Hideki Kuriyama wrote two letters on Shigeo Nagashima's birthday (February 20): one to Takeda to let him know he was the opening day starter, and another to Mitsuo Yoshikawa to let him know that while he was not selected as opening day pitcher, he was a necessary part of the rotation.

Otani could make a start during a Kyoiku League game against Yakult on March 10. He is scheduled to attend his high school graduation on March 2 and rejoin the Ichi-gun team in Sapporo for a rookie fan event on March 6. After that, he will report to Ni-gun Kamagaya.

Vicente Padilla had a difficult time with the signals during practices on Monday -- the interpreter had to be called on a number of times to makes sure everything was ok (the Hawks have over ten signals for various pick-off plays).